Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber optic connector of the type which customarily includes a female receptacle in combination with a pair of male connector bodies which are inserted into opposite ends of the female receptacle. Each connector body has a fiber optic cable terminated therein in known manner, and when the two connectors are inserted into opposite ends of the female receptacle, projecting fiber optic members from the respective cables are engaged. It is important that such engagement be secure and that the alignment of the two fiber optic members be precise so that an optical signal will pass without loss from one fiber optic cable to the other.
Such fiber optic connectors are known in the art. It is also known to provide means for locking the respective connector bodies in the female receptacle to retain them therein with the fiber optic ends in desired abutting contact. However, it is generally desired that such locking means be releasable so as to permit manual disengagement of the connector bodies and removal thereof from the receptacle member.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved means for releasably locking a fiber optic connector in a female receptacle member.
More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide improved means for effecting release of such locking means upon manual operation of release means, while at the same time avoiding accidental release of the locking means.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.